The invention relates generally to inspection systems, and more specifically to a system and method for inspecting objects at high speeds.
Inspection of railway tracks is one example where inspection systems are suitable for use. A typical inspection system used to inspect railway tracks includes sensors like ultrasound sensors or eddy current sensors that scan the tracks for known defect types and data storage and an analyzer to record and give out meaningful information from the scans. The sensors are generally placed in contact or close proximity of the track and are typically attached to a wheel (or inspection wheel) that rolls over the track as the train moves. In particular, the sensors are mounted on the center of the wheel which can restrict the speed of operation of the inspection device to the speed of the locomotive.
Typically, such inspection systems require high resolution data. In order to obtain high resolution, the scan speeds are required to be substantially low such as 30 miles per hour. Such requirements impose a limitation on the train speed because as mentioned above, the sensors are usually mounted on the wheels of the train. However, in order to perform real time inspection of the tracks, the inspection system is usually required to be implemented at higher speeds. A problem that arises is that, the obtained data resolution is significantly low as a result of higher speeds of operation. Data resolution is an important parameter for the accurate detection of flaws in railroad tracks.
Therefore, it is desirable to design an inspection system which can be operable at high speeds without effecting the data resolution.